The flood situation in Assam on Monday worsened with the Brahmaputra and its tributaries continuing to rise leaving nine persons dead and rendering 10 lakh people homeless in 16 districts.
Three children drowned in a boat mishap at Makum near Sadiya in Tinsukia district last night, while the NDRF rescued 42 others, official sources said.
Two others each died in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts and one each in Sibsagar and Nalbari on Sunday, the sources said.
The worst affected districts were Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup (rural and metro), Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sibsagar, Sonitpur and Tinsukia.
Ten relief camps have been set up in Sonitpur district, the sources said.
Meanwhile, with almost the entire 420 sq m of core area of the Kaziranga National Park flooded by waters of the Brahmaputra River, poachers taking advantage of the situation, killed a one-horned rhinoceros last night, forest officials said.
The poachers took away the pachyderm’s horn, they said.
The Pabitora Game Sanctuary, having the highest density of rhinoceroses in the world and the Dibru Saikhowa sanctuary which has rare wild horses were also inundated.
Death toll in Arunachal flood rises to four
The death toll in the current wave of floods in Arunachal Pradesh has risen to four with the recovery of three more bodies even as the rivers in worst affected Lohit district were showing a receding trend on Monday.
Two persons died at Durra Nalla area in Lohit district while one person died in West Siang district yesterday. On September 19, a college student had died after being swept away by flood waters at Sunpura in Lohit district, officials said.
While the body of one person has already been recovered in Lohit district, search operation is on to trace out the other, Lohit Deputy Commissioner R K Sharma said.
Governor J J Singh and Chief Minister Nabam Tuki mourned the deaths and asked the administration to remain vigilant.
Mr. Tuki has announced an ex—gratia of Rs 1.50 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and assured the people that the state government is doing everything possible to rescue the marooned to the safer places.
Concerned over the devastation caused by nature’s fury in East Siang district, the Chief Minister released Rs 10 lakh as immediate relief.
The rivers in Lohit district are showing a receding trend with the intensity of rain reduced from last night. The rainfall data recorded only 112.00 mm in last 24 hours at Tezu, the district headquarters.
